Knickerbocker indie film series begins with 'Lunch Box'

Sunday

May 11, 2014 at 3:32 PM

The Hope College Knickerbocker Theatre in downtown Holland will feature four films in four weeks beginning Monday.The series will open with “The Lunch Box,” showing at 7:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday. The Indian film revolves around middle-class housewife Ila, who is trying to add spice to her marriage, this time through her cooking. Hoping a new recipe will arouse a reaction from her neglectful husband, she prepares a special lunchbox to be delivered to him at work. It is mistakenly delivered to another office worker, Saajan, a lonely man on the verge of retirement. The error begins a series of lunchbox notes between Saajan and Ila, who become lost in a virtual relationship that could jeopardize both their realities.A coming-of-age comedy about teenage birdwatchers is next, when “A Birder’s Guide to Everything” shows at 7:30 p.m. May 19-24.On the eve of his widower father’s second wedding, 15-year-old David Portnoy spots what might be the extinct Labrador duck. Now he and the two other stalwart members of the local Young Birders Society, joined by their headstrong classmate Ellen, take off on an interstate road trip in search of a rare bird and elusive answers to teenage questions.“Redwood Highway” will show May 27-31.Living in a comfortable retirement community in Southern Oregon, estranged from her family and generally not happy about life, Marie (Shirley Knight) decides to journey 80 miles on foot to the coast of Oregon to revisit the ocean of her past for the first time in 45 years. Once reluctant to attend her granddaughter's wedding, she now arrives as an unexpected guest. Along the way, she meets an extraordinary cast of characters and discovers that one is never too old to learn something about life.The spring series will conclude with “The Face of Love,” showing June 2-7.Five years after the death of her husband Garrett (Ed Harris), Nikki (Annette Bening) meets a man who seems his exact duplicate. Not only does the stranger possess the same deeply lined face and startling blue eyes, he also shares Garrett’s kindness, humor, and passion for art. Romance blossoms, but Nikki can’t bring herself to tell him the truth about what drew her to him, even as she can’t resist taking him to all the old haunts. Arie Posin directs this emotionally thorny drama about how we cope with loss, live in the moment and ultimately move forward.Tickets for all the films are $6 for regular admission and $5 for senior citizens, Hope College faculty and children. Tickets will be sold at the door but are also available in advance at the ticket office at the Events and Conferences Office downtown in the Anderson-Werkman Financial Center, 100 E. Eighth St. The office is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays and can be called at (616) 395-7890.The Knickerbocker Theatre is at 86 E. Eighth St.— go@hollandsentinel.com